Why is your Smartphone Battery Draining quickly and How to solve this problem ?

You might be wondering that "Why is your smartphone utilizing so much power?". "Why is the battery not lasting long as it used to?" and "Why did your smartphone switch off instantly when there was still a charge percentage left in the battery?" All these questions might be indicating a common problem which is the battery problem. 

It doesn't always need to be a battery problem only because there are other multiple reasons also which could be responsible for the fast draining of the Smartphone battery. Here we will dive into this problem deeply and try to find out the optimum solution to tackle this problem.

What could be the reasons for the Battery draining very fast?

There could be multiple reasons for the battery draining very fast but the most common reason responsible for the drainage of the battery is the "Bad Battery Health". Battery health decreases due to the following reasons: 

(1). Smartphones are equipped with Lithium-Ion batteries which involve chemical reactions when charging and discharging occur. Each battery has a limit of Charge Cycles up to which the battery performs at its best and after crossing that threshold, the battery health starts decreasing. Where Charging Cycle constitutes the process to once charge the battery and discharge it fully. To simply it can be understood as how many times the battery can undergo the process of complete charging and discharging until failure or start to lose its capacity.

When Battery completes its Charge Cycles then its health starts decreasing and the capacity starts decreasing hence resulting in the quick draining of the battery. 

Note: According to Apple, one Charge Cycle is completed when the battery utilizes 100% battery capacity not necessarily from the same charge. For eg. If we use 80% charge from our battery and then recharge the smartphone. Then using 20% from the next charge will constitute a charge cycle. It might take several days to complete a charge cycle. 

(Image Credits:Apple)

(2). The second most common reason responsible for the sudden fall in the battery percentage is its deterioration of battery by getting swollen. You might have heard from people or seen yourself that the Smartphone battery inflates after a while. This Swelling of the battery is caused by the Overcharging of the Smartphone, due to which heat builds up in the battery and the formation of Gas occur which also results in decreased battery life. 

Note: If your smartphone has swollen battery then it could be highly dangerous so it is advised to change it as soon as possible. 

Following are some other reasons which could be responsible for the sudden drop in the battery percentage:

(a). High Brightness: This can cause a drop in the battery percentage in an unusual manner because using smartphones at higher brightness requires more power to light up the screen. 

(b). Apps using Too much battery: Some apps keep running in the background and suck power from the battery. Social Media apps are the ones that keep running in the background and consume more power. It is necessary to know if any app is consuming more power and this data can be accessed from the Battery options under the Settings menu. 

(c). Keeping Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/GPS switched on: Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/GPS if kept on for a long time also consumes more power because they involve extra circuitry which requires more power. There are some apps also which requires the turning on of Bluetooth or GPS, using such apps also consumes more power than the usual.

Note: Sometimes we mistakenly or the Virus, download the Malicious apps in our smartphone which runs in the background and collect our data and send it to a particular location when the phone is not in use. This makes the smartphone battery drain fastly while not in use. 

How to Check Battery Health through Apps? 

There are multiple apps available on the Play Store which can help us to analyze our battery health. One such app is called AccuBattery which is readily available on the Playstore. To check battery health with the help of AccuBattery, follow these steps:

(i). Download the App from the Playstore.

(ii). Under the Charging Tab, go to the bottom and set the Design Capacity as specified by the manufacturer. 

(iii). Now charge the smartphone and open the app. Let the app collect data for 5-6 charging cycles and look for various parameters under different tabs. 

(iv). Under the Health tab look for the Percentage of Battery Health. If the battery Health percentage is above 90% then the battery is in excellent condition and if the battery health lies between 80-90% then the battery is in good condition. If the battery health percentage shows figures below 80% then it indicates that the battery is not in good condition and needs replacement.

(V). Apart from this, you can also look into the Charging and Discharging parameters under different tabs. If the figures seem unusual then it is expected that there's something wrong with the battery and it needs replacement. Also, under the Charging tab, the app shows the estimated Capacity of the battery. 

Since we have looked into the possible reasons responsible for the sudden drop in the battery percentage so now let's look into the solutions if any.

How to tackle the battery discharging problem?

• If your smartphone is more than 1.5 years old and the battery health according to the app is under 80% then it is possible that the smartphone might have crossed the limit of its optimum charge cycles. So it is necessary to get the battery changed as soon as possible to obtain the best performance from your smartphone. 
• If your battery or the back of the smartphone seems swollen then it is required to change it urgently because it could prove to be dangerous. 

Note: Prolonged use of Swollen battery can lead to the explosion of the battery. 

• If your smartphone battery is dropping quickly because of the increased brightness then it is advised to use Auto-Brightness mode to save battery.
• If your battery health is in good condition and some Social media apps are consuming more power then it is required to limit their usage. Restricting the battery usage can be done from the App settings. Also, it is necessary to turn off the App notifications to save the battery.
• If you have a Smartphone that is rooted(works best with rooted) or non-rooted then you can use Greenify to save battery. Greenify hibernates the selected apps and limits the background activity of those apps. 
  
• If none of the above-discussed reasons holds true for you then there might be a possibility that some Malicious app is eating out the battery. To tackle such malicious apps and viruses it is advised to take backup and reset the smartphone. Also, installing Antivirus helps to keep malicious apps and files away from the phone.
• Antivirus also has the battery saver mode which can be turned on to save battery. Apart from Antivirus, smartphones also have battery-saving modes that can be turned on to save batteries from draining fastly.
• Also, if you are using apps that require access to the GPS, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi then make sure to turn off them when the app is not in use. Smartphones nowadays have features that automatically turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when not in use but it is advised to turn them off frequently when not in use to save more battery.

How to keep your battery in a healthy condition?

The lithium-Ion battery has a longer life, higher power density, and supports fast charging. But its health can also degrade if not used properly. To keep your battery in a healthy condition we should charge your smartphone up to 80% only and if required to charge fully then it is advised to use Trickle charging which eases the electrical current and extend battery lifespan by preventing it from overheating. 

(Image Credits:Apple)

Note: Nowadays all smartphones support Fast Charging and doing it after 80% produces more heat which can degrade the health of the battery. Trickle charge slows down the battery charging rate through software and hence maintains a healthy battery. 

We hope this article helped you to prevent your smartphone battery from draining quickly.

Thanks for Reading!!